Folks far and near are flocking to Arcata over the next few days to celebrate Godwit Days and participate in a bevy of bird-related activities in the area.

Local artists — including members of the Arcata Artisans Gallery and more — are also joining in the 24th annual festivities. A free art show featuring bird and other images will be open to the public Friday from 3 to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Arcata Community Center, 321 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.

“Hummingbird Nest” is by local artist Patricia Sundgren Smith. (Courtesy of the artist)

Sundgren Smith moved to Humboldt County in 2012 and has been a member of the Trinidad Art Gallery since 2013. Her medium is fine art printmaking, especially linocut block prints. She also draws with colored pencils and likes to build collages.

“My subject matter shifted greatly when I moved to this area,” Sundgren Smith said. “I worked with natural forms and abstracts in San Francisco. Since moving here, I’ve spent a lot of time immersed in nature and bird watching, entranced by the number of local birds.”

These days, Sundgren Smith focuses much of her work on the redwoods and birds.

“I am currently making images of endangered species, as well,” she said. “As a child, I was fascinated with dinosaurs, and birds are just an extension of that. I think birds are beautiful.”

“I enjoy putting birds on my ceramics, because birds are just so cheerful and beautiful. They animate our landscape adding beautiful song and interest,” said White, who has been a member of Arcata Artisans for more than 10 years.

Patricia Sennott, a painter and printmaker from Blue Lake, says she enjoys painting birds partly because they have a “different liveliness and character” from the flowers and plants she has been observing and drawing for years.

“The first birds which I recall working on were sandhill cranes, which we have often seen when driving through and camping in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon. … Then when we witnessed their giant throngs migrating through Nebraska, I simply had to paint them more, said Sennott, who joined the Arcata Artisans Gallery in 2012.

“My other ‘favorites’ to paint and draw are orioles and lazuli buntings,” she said.

For more information about Godwit Days, go to www.godwitdays.org. For more information about Arcata Artisans, visit arcataartisans.com.